I. General

What is iversity?

iversity.org is a platform offering Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs allow the best professors to provide thousands of students around the world with an interactive learning experience in higher education.

What is a MOOC and how does it work?

MOOC is an acronym that stands for “Massive Open Online Course”. A MOOC is a university course offered online and available for free to everyone who has access to the Internet. To find out more about how MOOCs work, watch our video 'What is a MOOC?'.

MOOCs are more than just filmed lectures. It is custom content, designed specifically for online teaching. An open course transforms the traditional course concept, uses multimedia formats and allows for easy interaction online. Hour-long lectures are broken down into short videos explaining individual concepts, so you can replay, pause or revisit topics whenever you like. This makes learning on a global scale an interactive experience.
Our courses are broken down into about 8-12 chapters each, with a new chapter released every week. The chapters are then broken down into several units, each unit providing a short lecture video, further readings or homework assignment. Quizzes come along with some of the units, keeping you on top of the material. There is also a discussion board linked to either the chapters or the units, allowing you to interact with other students and the professor. Each of our MOOCs is unique in its own way. It is up to the professors to design the course best according to the subject material.
Each course starts on a certain date (see the course description page), and chapters are released on a weekly basis. You can watch your videos and work on your assessments whenever it fits your schedule, you don't have to make sure you're at the computer at a specific time, and you can't miss a lecture.

Is it really free?

Taking a course doesn’t cost a cent - it’s completely free! Assuming that you already have a working computer or mobile device and access to Internet, no extra expenses apply.

What language are the MOOCs in?

Our MOOCs can be in any language. Right now iversity offers courses in German (9 in total) and English (16 in total). We will add more courses in more languages soon.

II. Students

Who can enrol?

Anyone who has access to internet can enrol! We are looking forward to studying with you!

How can I enrol?

Just browse our course catalogue, select a course that interests you (click on "go to course") and then choose either "enrol with email" or "enrol with Facebook". If you already are registered with iversity, just click on the “enrol” button on the course description page of the course you wish to take.

When does my course begin and end?

You can find all the information on the start date and the duration of the courses on the respective course description page. Generally, courses consist of about 6-14 chapters, and because a chapter is released each week, a course can range from 6 to 14 weeks long.

Are homework assignments and tests mandatory?

In general, you can take all our courses without doing homework or tests. You are free to choose the degree to which you want to engage in your course, however, if you wish to receive a certificate of successful completion, you will need to comply to the professor's requirements.
Just enrol to the course you are interested in and you will be informed accordingly.

What’s the workload for each course?

You can find all the information on the course workload on the course description page. The workload strongly depends on the course, as well as on how deeply you decide to go into the material. Some require 2-3 hours per week, others between 5 and 8 hours.

Can I enrol in a course after a course has already started?

Yes, you can enrol after a course has started. The content of previous chapters will still be available. But hurry up, some courses have assignments that need to be completed by a deadline, so if you would like to fully complete a course and receive your certificate, it’s better to start on time!

How long are the lecture videos and course material available online?

While a course runs, course material will be released in a weekly cycle, so every week a new chapter will be available. Past weeks' chapters will remain accessible for you to re-watch. After a course closes, you can still access it in the archive, if you were enrolled in that course. If you weren't enrolled, you will need to be patient and wait for the course to re-start at a later date.

Will I be tested?

Yes and no. You can be tested, but if you just want to learn without receiving a certificate, you can just as well choose not to take the tests.
The kind of test you will take always depend on the individual course. The instructors are free to choose how they will test and grade you. On a general note, throughout a course, students can undergo a series of assessments. This can be a homework assignment, a quiz at the end of the unit or an exam (which usually comes at the end of the course). Quizzes and exams can be open answer, multiple choice or peer-to-peer review. Your work will then be evaluated based on your performance. Good luck!

III. Certificates and Credits

Will I get a certificate?

Yes! You will receive a certificate upon successful completion of your course.

How do I receive a course certificate?

In order to successfully complete your course (and thus qualify for the certificate), you will need to pass all required assignments given by the professor. Since the type of assignment may differ from course to course, kindly check your course description page or just enrol in the course and wait for the professor to provide you with more details on the assignments. Once the course is running, you will also find more details on the discussion boards.

Can I receive ECTS credits for taking a course?

Yes! We are working hard on integrating MOOCs into the European system of higher education to exploit the benefits of online education for both the students and the universities.
At the moment, ECTS credits can be obtained in three MOOCs on iversity. We are working on providing more soon.

In order to receive the ECTS credit certificate, after you successfully complete the course, you take an exam at the university offering the MOOC or a partner university near you. We are currently working on building a network of institutions that will host MOOC-exams. Your home university then will accept the credit - given that the respective course is required in your curriculum. To be on the safe side, you should check with your university beforehand to make sure they will accept the credit.